Hatch on Latest Estimate of President’s Budget

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch(R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, said new estimates from Congress’ non-partisan budget scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), on the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget show “a profound lack of courage” in terms of tackling the nation’s debt crisis. The CBO found that the President’s budget would increase the deficit by $9.5 trillion over the next ten years and the public debt hitting 87 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In February, the Obama Administration claimed that its budget would increase the deficit by $7.2 trillion over ten years with the national debt reaching 77 percent of GDP. Hatch issued the following statement:

“Our nation is facing a real crisis with federal spending pushing our debt to record and unsustainable levels. This crisis demands real presidential leadership to right our economic ship without mortgaging our children and grandchildren’s future. But as CBO found today, the President’s budget, best defined by a profound lack of courage and a disappointing embrace of the failed status quo, would increase the deficit by $9.5 trillion over ten years, over $2 trillion more than the Administration estimated. It’s time for the White House to get off the bench and get in the game and start leading to cut spending and reduce our debt without raising taxes to fund more so-called ‘investments,’ which is nothing more than Washington code for more spending. Even using their own estimates, the Administration couldn’t hide how bad our nation’s deficit and debt are, but today CBO has 100 percent proven that the President’s budget is nothing but an air ball.

“We cannot get our debt under control by cutting discretionary spending alone, but it is an important place to start. Regrettably, the other side doesn’t even seem willing to cut these bloated spending levels that were increased by 84 percent over the past two years. To bring down our debt, we have to start tackling entitlements. Unfortunately, the White House is nowhere to be found. Consensus can and must be reached. I am working on a series of reforms to our Medicaid program that has witnessed an unprecedented and unsustainable expansion under both the stimulus and the $2.6 trillion health law that is threatening states across the country. I hope the Administration abandons its budget that taxes, spends and borrows too much and starts leading to solve the challenges facing our nation.”